Wednesday, June 20, 2012

My red bookshelf

Hello all ! I'm not gonna lie, this project took much longer than I thought it would. It all started last week. I hate just sitting around the house because I get bored really easily so I was trying to figure out what I could work on without spending a lot of money. I up and decided that all the furniture in the living/dining room is too dark and something needed to be changed. I nominated the book shelf.



Yep, its messy I know. Also, boring, I've had this thing for like 4 years almost, and its from Walmart. I figured, if I mess it up, I'll just hunt for another one at a thrift store. No harm in that. I cleared it off and man, I have a lot of books !! I took what shelves I could out and carried everything outside to my little patio area and started sanding. This shelf is pressed wood and laminate, so I did a bunch of research on what to do for prep work.
One blog told me I would have to sand every surface until white specks showed up like so.


A lot of surfaces to sand. I'm pretty sure my neighbors hate me.
I bought Kilz spray paint and went to town ! I didn't buy enough for sure, but I"m lazy so I figured it would all work out in the end. Here's what it looked like after I had run out of primer.


Not enough, I know. I'm lazy !!
Before trying this project, I had decided to try using just spray paint. There are so many bloggers out there that exclusively use spray paint for all their furniture and I honestly hated it. It was splotchy and if the wind blew it would get all over me. Back to the story though. I painted one side, noticed it was super spotted, so I figured it was from lack of primer. I grabbed some white paint and went ahead and painted everything white, then painted red over it. Some spots are still kinda spotted, but I was so sick of painting, I announced that I was done.


Honestly, It doesn't look so bad. I'll probably touch up just the red later, just not now. I had googled a red and white bookshelf and didn't find anything that looked quite like this, so I'm pretty proud of it.


*Sigh* I just love books.
(I'm currently looking for another shelf, same size to put on the other side of the window. Shhhhh)


How it looks in the room. Fabulous !!!

Some notes: If i was to do something like this again, I would just skip the sanding part and just buy some heavy duty primer made for glossy surfaces, and then of course not use spray paint. I like spray paint, just for smaller pieces.






Sunday, June 3, 2012

My June to do list

I've been thinking with all the extra time I have that I need to make a list of stuff I want to accomplish. I have so many things I want to do and things I've pinned that I never know where to start. I wanted to make a list and put it out there for everyone to see so it would keep me accountable. I need stuff to do so I don't sit on the couch and waste away beautiful weather. No lie, there is a butt print on my couch. Anywho, here is my list for June :)

  1. Get to the YMCA and get my membership started. (I get a free one because of the military, holla !)
  2. Lose 5 lbs.
  3. Find a tall dresser for the bedroom
  4. Rearrange the living room
  5. Go through all our stuff and make a pile for a yard sale
  6. Go to the flea market
  7. Clean !!!! I've been so lazy since my man left.
  8. Find a few more vintage books and work on making a lamp with them.

I may add to this, but for now that's good enough. I'll let you know how I do !