You guys had some awesome ideas for cheap and free ways to freshen up our house after this move.
Meanwhile, I’ve been checking in on Craig’s List daily, popping into the thrift store from time to time, and started sorting all of our things for a giant yard sale this weekend. Plus, I’ve been writing lists. Are you surprised? Here’s a list of ideas I’ve been considering…
-make the living room more “home office friendly.” We originally split our biggish living room into a sitting area and an “office” by sticking our big old two-sided bookcase in the middle, as a divider. It worked out wonderfully when I was the only one working from home. I could sit at the desk, and be sort of cut off from everything else and focus a bit better. Now that Josh and I are working together on most things, it’s become inconvenient to have that big old bookshelf dividing our two work areas. Putting it flush against the wall will give us less room for our hoards of books, but we’ll be able to work together more easily.
-paint the dresser. We painted my dresser red three years ago, and I’m thinking of doing something similar to Josh’s boring brown- maybe in navy.
-freshen up the china closet/bar thing? We bought a mid-century-ish china closet from a thrift store for $20 last year and have been using it as a liquor and glassware cabinet. (Have I mentioned we started watching Mad Men lately? I haven’t?) It has some chips in spots and I’m trying to decide if we should refinish it or paint it, or maybe cover the inside with fun busy wallpaper. Options! So many!
-do something with my milk glass collection. I collected a lot of these in high school and have never found anything to do with them (except keep dusting them off and promising them they’ll have a home someday).
-buy an area rug to prevent scraped knees. Poor Little Josh is still getting the hang of that whole walking thing and as pretty as those hardwood floors are, I’m sure they’re not going to be so friendly to him. I think a soft area rug for his bedroom and a smallish one for part of the living room should be enough. I’d really like to find a stark black and white one like this.
-hang some shelves in nursery. Have I told you how many books this kid has? He has a completely packed bookshelf and stacks all around the room. I think making some sort of shelf could be cheap-to-free-ish, if I think of some clever way to do it. Maybe something like this.
-move the nightstand to the bathroom. Sounds weird, but I think I could hide some shampoo and toothpaste in the bottom and set out pretty handmade soaps on top. Shake things up a bit! Live life on the edge!
-frame family wedding photos. I’d like to hang them in a cluster in the hall. We gathered a bunch for our wedding guestbook, so we have them on hand. I just need to find some pretty frames at a thrift store and maybe paint them all the same color.
What do you think?
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Mar 20, 2012 8:26 am
You got that china cabinet for TWENTY BUCKS? OMG! Don’t cover it, refinish it!!! It’s amazing, I have mad jealousy.
Mar 20, 2012 8:45 am
I think you’re right. But, UGH, the refinishing takes so much work.
Mar 20, 2012 8:38 am
Hello – these ideas all seem great.
If you want a patterned area rug have you considered painting one? I don’t know if that would help little Josh’s knees but maybe you could try something like this? http://voices.yahoo.com/how-paint-canvas-area-rug-45958.html
Good luck with all the changes! I can’t wait to see photos once you are done!
Mar 20, 2012 8:45 am
Thanks!!
Mar 20, 2012 9:12 am
I love all of these ideas! Especially those shallow book display shelves for the nursery. I think the nightstand in the bathroom idea is brilliant — there’s always a need for storage in there, and there’s never enough (which is why our under-the-sink cabinet looks like a pharmacy blew up in there). But what I really appreciate are the little birdie figurines that are perched on it already :) FUN stuff!
Mar 20, 2012 9:44 am
I’m adoring the painted dresser. It’s rather amazing what a coat or two paint can do.
Mar 20, 2012 10:56 am
It is so nice to refresh in a new place. All of your ideas sound wonderful.
Mar 20, 2012 11:39 am
Love the bookshelves for Lil Josh! All the colors will be so stimulating and the covers double as art. Plus, its such a nice way to integrate reading into every day life. He sees a book and has no problem pulling it down and paging through it himself.
Mar 20, 2012 12:32 pm
Where can I see a picture of this china cabinet?? I’m also super put off by the idea of refinishing wood. The sanding! The fumes! The number of steps! I really like the wallpaper idea. You could also use fabric and then swap it out more easily than you could with paper.
Mar 20, 2012 12:41 pm
Refinishing is a pain in the butt. But, we bought an old solid wood desk for $2 at a thrift store. It was painted this vomit-green color. It took a long week of scraping and sanding and this weird orange stripping goop, but it’s gorgeous now. Totally worth it.
Mar 20, 2012 12:52 pm
Ironically, I would totally voluntarily paint a desk vomit-green. It’s maybe my favorite color of all time. Baby loves an underdog. You know what makes furniture really pop? Hanging cool fabric behind it. The pattern you see behind the bureau in the picture I posted today is a curtain from Ikea. There’s no window there, I just wanted to hide a door. But ZOMG it makes the bureau look so cool.
Mar 20, 2012 12:52 pm
Yeah that was supposed to be in response to your response. Oh, internet, you minx.
Mar 20, 2012 1:09 pm
your existing red dresser situation is CUTE!
Mar 20, 2012 3:12 pm
I think most of these ideas are super cute/practical!
Be careful putting the nightstand in the bathroom, though, wooden furniture that’s not been properly finished and sealed for a bathroom can end up with humidity damage. The damage can range from warping to rotting, so if you intend to keep the nightstand for the long term, you might want to seal all of its surfaces (joints and inside drawers too) with something water-vapor-proof first.
Mar 20, 2012 10:38 pm
I want to see a picture of the mid-century cabinet!! I love mid-century furniture. Refinishing is so much work, but aren’t you always happy with the result??
Your ideas sound great. Another thing to make a cozy space is plants. I think you may have mentioned that in a previous post, but having house plants in each room make it really feel lived in and just plain cozy.
Mar 21, 2012 8:22 am
That dresser looks so snappy! Great color. I’m always torn when deciding whether to refinish the wood or paint… painting is SO much easier and the results can really change the look of a piece. But one of my favorite pieces of furniture we own is a mid-century hutch that I stained vs. painted–it’s all pockmarked and scarred and the stain didn’t “take” evenly (long story), but it has a lot of character.
Wish I lived nearer and I could help with these projects! You’re giving me the refinishing itch…
Mar 22, 2012 12:13 pm
I will personally tear you limb from limb if you paint that sideboard/cabinet thing… NO JOKE.
Apr 4, 2012 12:24 am
(This is my first post on this site, so- hi!)
Since a lot of apartment managers either won’t let you paint, or make you paint it white when you leave, I found a neat idea years ago when I was renting a shabby and very beige apartment. I found cheap fabric, sewed it into curtains, then made a cheap long curtain rod from pvc pipe and a few cheap pieces of hardware. I hung the curtains all across one wall in the living room. It gave a great affect- it was colorful, warmed up the room by softening it and giving it texture, and all I had to do when I moved out was putty up 5 or 6 holes in the wall. If you don’t have the means to sew curtains, I’m sure you could find cheap curtains at a thrift store, dollar store, garage sale, etc… And when you get tired of the color or want to redecorate, it’s easy to change it up!