Nighstands on Sargent Street

That title is about as scary as I'm going to get this Halloween. Unless of course you want to see the before picture of our master bedroom.

Terrifying isn't it? 

In my husband's defense, when he built the house he did put carpet in our bedroom. But, after being a bachelor pad for 3 years with dogs...need I say more?  As soon as we were married I was itching to get rid of the carpet. One weekend, J decided to go on a camping trip and leave me at home all by myself. This is what happens when I get bored! I pulled up our carpet, and got those floors ready for some wood!

Fast forward to last Christmas...J told me he would build me new nightstands for our room that would complement our new bed a little better than the "whatever I had in the shed" nightstands we had been sporting.

I was so excited! I was going to be able to design nightstands and have exactly what I wanted! While I love finding vintage pieces and refinishing them, sometimes a vintage piece just doesn't cut it. We don't have a huge house, so our furniture really needs to be aesthetically pleasing and provide us with much needed storage. I designed two nightstands that I thought would look great with the direction I was going.

I didn't want matchy-matchy nightstands, but I did want to them to have some similar features. Here is what we came up with:

I am so proud of how well they turned out. I want our room to be sophisticated and calming, and I think these pieces are a perfect fit. (I apologize for the horrible pictures! My camera broke, so I had to use my phone to take these.)

I actually used Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint and wax on these pieces. Since we were painting raw wood, we went ahead and used a primer for the first coat. Then topped it off with ASCP Old White. On the mirrored door piece, I used ASCP Dark Wax all over. On the 3-drawer piece, you can see, I only used it around the drawer molding and the radius corners. I used ASCP Clear Wax on the rest of the piece.

I have a few more smaller projects to work on before the room is completely finished, but I am finally seeing it come together!

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I posted new pictures of the night stands that are MUCH better quality than these. You can find them here. Thanks! 

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We're linked!

Recipe Round-up! {Mexican Rice}

Do you ever dread Mexican night because you can't stand the taste of boxed rice? I know I used to when I was young. My mom would make the Rice-a-Roni Spanish rice. BLAH! I always thought it was so disgusting. I have to say, I even had a hard time getting rice down at Mexican restaurants. Something just didn't taste right.

Naturally, being a Texas girl, I pride myself on my ability to make a mean Mexican dinner. I never attempted rice though, because I thought, "What's the point? I'm going to hate it any way." That was until my good friend, Melinda, convinced me there was Mexican rice worth tasting in the world. She told me tales of her Tia's (Aunt's) rice that was so flavorful you could make an entire meal just on the rice. I asked her to snag a copy of the recipe for me, but apparently you have to be a member of the family to get the full recipe. There was a secret ingredient in her rice that I wasn't allowed to know about. How rude!

It was ok. Our friendship was stronger than a secret ingredient. So, I made it my mission to find the best Mexican Rice recipe that would rival Melinda's aunt's recipe.  Melinda got to be my taste tester, so it was win, win for everyone. This is the recipe I came up with after trying a few and Melinda giving me a few pointers on how to improve.

The basic recipe I found in Food & Wine's Quick from Scratch Chicken Cook Book. It's part of the Arroz con Pollo recipe, but I made a few tweeks to make it perfect.

 

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
Bacon - 4 to 5 strips (I use Turkey Bacon)
1/2 Onion - Chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup hot water
1 packet or cube of Sazon Goya (found on the Ethnic/Mexican Food aisle at your grocery store)
1 can Tomatoes with Green Chiles (Rotel)
3/4 can Tomato sauce
1 cup long grain rice

First things first....chop your vegetables.

Next, heat a skillet on medium-high heat and add your bacon. If you use Turkey Bacon, you will need to add a little Olive Oil to keep the bacon from sticking. 

Once the bacon cooks for about 3-4 minutes, add your onion. Let the onion saute with the bacon for 3-4 minutes then add the bell peppers.

Allow the bell peppers to cook for about 5 minutes or until they begin to soften.

Now add the tomatoes with green chiles, tomato sauce, chicken broth, water and Sazon Goya.

 Last, stir in your rice...notice I might have added a little more than 1 cup. I love this stuff!

Here is what your skillet should look like at this point...

Let it come to a slight boil, then cover and turn down heat. Let it simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, to make sure the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

 Once the rice has absorbed all the liquid your rice is done!

On a side note: The Sazon Goya contains MSG. Boo!! I didn't notice it until this last time I made it. I'm trying to find a good alternative to this ingredient, but haven't found anything yet. If I do, I will update the recipe.

Hope you enjoy this rice as much as we do here at our house!

Oooo that's Pinteresting!

If you go to my Pinterest page, you'll see I have a few boards with titles like: Projects, Things I'd Like to Make, etc. Every so often I get a whim to try something new. Why not, right? When things come with such detailed instructions, and you follow them exactly, don't you expect them to go perfectly? I do! But, sometimes, no matter how hard we try, it just doesn't seem to turn out the way we expected. That's life. (Can I get an AMEN??) So, this little story if you haven't already guessed is about a Pinterest project that didn't quite work out. I'm hoping you can learn from my mistakes! As you know from my previous post, we have been redecorating our master bedroom. With the new look, I needed new lamps! I wanted to get rid of the black and gray lamps I had for something a little lighter. I found this mercury glass lamp at Kohl's on clearance for $27! Can you believe it? Lamps this size go for almost $200 at Pottery Barn!

I was so excited to snag this deal right up. The problem was, they only had one.

But, no worries! I had an old lamp that my Granny gave me that was similar in size, and I had seen a trusty tutorial on how to turn anything into mercury glass! Win, win, win!

So, I set out on a mission to turn this...

into

I followed the tutorial exactly.  I promise! I purchased a can of Krylon's Looking Glass Spray Paint. You can find it at your local craft store (Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc.). I even did a test run on an old mason jar I had, and it turned out ok. Not perfect, but ok.

It says to lightly spray the area with water. Check.

Next, spray a light coat of the paint onto the piece. Check. Oh, wait, the paint is starting to drip where the water is. Maybe that's ok? Maybe that's the mercury effect?? I'm going to push through.

Let dry and repeat above steps until desired results appear.

Well, after TWO CANS of spray paint (about 10 light coats), my desired results, well....left lots to be desired!

It doesn't look like Mercury Glass at all! It just looks like a poorly painted silver lamp. ARGH!

Pinterest you failed me this time. But, I still have faith you can show me the path to be a thrifty decorating genius! Just not this time my friend, not this time.

Any one else have a Pinterest project gone wrong? Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Build-a-Bed

Master Bedroom Makeover

Our bedroom makeover has been a long process. Primarily because I keep changing my mind on what I want! We started off with a sleigh bed, and black and white bedding. Then I decided I didn't like the black and white after all.  Last year, we decided to swamp out the queen sized bed for a king. Good news was we had a king headboard laying in our garage I had picked up at our local thrift store. I pulled it out, refinished it, and we attached it to our wall. The only problem now was the bed frame. I HATE metal bed frames! So, my sweet long-suffering husband agreed to build me a bed! It's like build-a-bear for adults!

We had picked up some spindles at an antique store, and decided those would be the perfect legs for our new bed.

 This is the bed frame before we painted...

And head board and bed frame finished and installed...

 

Next, we'll be building new and much needed nightstands!

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Glaze of Glory

A few months ago, I had a client call me up to ask me to refinish a nightstand for her. Someone else had tried refinishing this piece for her, but the color and technique didn't go with the other pieces I had already done for her. Since I have had more than one person tell me that they want to know how I glaze my furniture, I thought it was time to write a tutorial.

The 3 Rules of Glazing

Rule #1: Learn to be a slob. That's right. It's ok to be a slob when you glaze - throw that wet towel on the floor, leave your dishes on the counter, or just refuse to make your bed. You can tell your family you're just practicing good painting skills. Why? Because, you absolutely cannot be a perfectionist when it comes to glazing. It is going to be darker in some spots than others, and that's ok!

Rule #2: Make a manicure appointment. (Or just wear gloves.) Your finger nails will get unbelievably dirty! Glazing should be listed as one the Dirtiest Jobs. But, but it's a good excuse to get a manicure! Unfortunately for me me, my husband figured out gloves are way cheaper than a manicure.

Rule #3: "Have patience, have patience don't be in such a hurry." Make sure you have allowed your base coat of paint to dry and cure for at least 48 hours before glazing. Glaze is water based, and chances are so is your paint. If you begin glazing too soon, it will only reactivate your paint and cause it to peel.

Now that we've covered the basics, let's get started on the step-b- step details!

Materials Needed:
Paint brush, cloth rags, bowl of water, Valspar Antique Glaze 

3 Steps to Glazing Anything

Step 1: Sand, prime and paint your piece of furniture. Let dry for 48 hours.

Step 2

Step 2: Using a brush or rag, begin glazing your furniture focusing on one small section at a time. The glaze typically begins drying in 10-15 minutes depending on the outside temperature and humidity conditions.

I like to pour the glaze into the top of the container. It is easier to handle while I'm glazing, and it makes it easy to pour back in any left overs when done.

To rag on the glaze you simply dip your cloth into water and ring out any excess. You want your cloth to be damp, but not dripping wet.

Next, you dip your damp rag into the glaze and put on a coat of glaze. Don't worry about it being too dark at this point. Glaze is super easy to lighten up once your put it on. The water will be your best friend during this process!

To brush on the glaze, you simply dip your brush into the water prior to brushing the glaze onto your piece. Simple as that!

Step 3: Wipe off the excess glaze.

Step 3

Take a clean cloth and begin ragging off your glaze. If you want a dark glaze, use a dry rag to wipe off the excess. If you want a lighter finish, dip your clean rag in the water. Try to "push" the glaze towards the corners and into any crevices found on your piece. Remember, glaze is suppose to resemble dirt, oil and wax build up found on antique furniture.

This process takes a little time. You have to work the glaze around until you have the right color for you. If you want to take more glaze off, simply dip your rag in the water bowl and rag away.

This is the part where you have to lay your perfectionism aside. You will start to pick apart every little imperfection in the glaze, but that is what makes glaze an antiquing technique - it gives your piece imperfections! You don't want it to look perfect, you want it to look aged.

Now, step back and admire your finished product!

A Few Tips to Consider

I personally think how you paint the piece will determine how your glaze looks. I prefer to use a brush when painting a piece I will be glazing. The brush strokes left in the paint from your brush will leave tiny crevices for your glaze to fall into on the flat services. 

If you will be using a latex paint, the best paint I have found is Behr found at Home Depot. I have tried other top brands and hardware store brands, but I keep going back to Behr for my latex paint of choice.

If you prepare and paint your piece correctly, you don't "need" a special top coat, however, I always like to add an extra coat of protection. For this piece, I used a soft wax finish. If it was a desk or dining room table, I would use a water based polycrylic finish.

Let me know if you have any questions on how to finish your piece of furniture!

Marshall's Place

You always hear people talk about "preparing" for their child's arrival. Let me tell you, there is nothing you can do to prepare for a child. After reading tons of books about breastfeeding vs formula, cloth vs disposable diapers, the 5 S's, and the most important question of all...to have or not to have an epidural! I finally decided enough was enough, and I was just going to "wing it" as a new mom. And, that would be why I only just finished my son's nursery two months after his birth! I have to say that it is my favorite room in the house, probably because it's the only one that feels complete.

I started planning Marshall's nursery before I even knew if he was a boy or a girl. I was shopping at Kirkland's with my Mother-in-Law at Easter, and found this adorable rabbit lamp! I fell in love with it at once, and it reminded me of one of my favorite stories as a little girl, The Velveteen Rabbit. I decided that would be my nursery theme and got started! 

I knew I wanted the walls to be grey, because I think grey is the perfect neutral color. I just had to figure out which grey I was going to choose. I thought (key word here is thought!) I had the perfect gray picked out, and purchased 2 gallons of Benjamin Moore paint. I heard it was the best for nurseries because it has zero odor, and being the good mother that I am, I wanted only the best for my baby! Well, as the story goes, Jason stayed up until 2:00 am one morning to surprise me by cutting in the paint at the ceiling and baseboards. I'm still not sure if he did that to surprise me, or because he knew I would get paint all over the ceiling, and he would end up on the latter repainting the ceiling any way! I walked in the room that morning and realized the color was all wrong. It was too dark for a nursery. One thing I have learned from dealing with paint is that you can always go back to the store and have them make your paint darker, but they cannot lighten the color for you. So, it was back to the drawing board and the paint store for us. I finally decided on Benjamin Moore's London Fog.

Now, I had the base for my nursery - gray, neutral walls and a theme - The Velveteen Rabbit. Here's a list of projects we completed to make the nursery perfect!

We took a vintage (of course!) dresser, and painted it, distressed it and waxed it. Then added a changing pad on top, and we have our very own custom changing table.

The wall above the changing table was looking a bit bare, so I asked Jason to make a shelf for me. He took a couple of pieces of barn wood and added the two wooden brackets I painted to match the dresser. The easiest project we've ever done!

On either side of the window I hung the mirror that came with the vintage dresser and an antique window we found in Jefferson, TX for only $5! The glass was really dingy looking, so Jason suggested we have the glass replaced. After a trip to Lowe's, I was ready to start painting! I painted the frame then printed off 1 Samuel 1:27-28 in a free font I found through Pinterest. I cut out the words, taped them to the mirror, and traced it with a black paint pen I purchased from Hobby Lobby.

Next on our list was a crib. I started off falling in love with these two cribs from Restoration Hardware. With $1,000 price tags though, I knew I needed to keep looking. After scouring Craigslist, Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby and Pottery Barn I thought I would never find a crib I loved.

 

I decided to give Babies R Us one last look, and that's when I found our crib. They had just put it out on the floor that day, and I couldn't have been more excited! Plus with a price tag of only $299, I thought I had struck gold!

The canvases above the crib I have had for 3 years. I kept wanting to use them in our master bedroom, but I never could decide what to paint on them. I'm so glad I didn't use them now. I saw a tutorial on making your own chevron print on one of my favorite blogs, Dear Lillie. I then used Mod Podge to apply the pictures I took from The Velveteen Rabbit book. 

After hanging them on the wall it was still missing something. That's when I decided to add the name sign above them. Jason, being the super crafty husband that he is, took a few pieces of barn wood (my new favorite thing!) and created this great sign for me. I just used a wooden letter from Hobby Lobby along with some stencil letters to create Marshall's sign.

The final piece we added to Marshall's nursery was this bookcase that Jason built. We had it sitting in our guest room, but it was nothing to look at. I never gave it a second thought. Jason brought it home from work one day because they were going to throw it away. He said he would do something to it to make it look nice for our guest room. Well, like my canvases, we never started that project until we decided we needed a bookshelf for the nursery. I found the feet at Lowe's, and Jason had the crown molding left over from another job. He worked his carpentry magic on it, and this is what we came out with! Isn't it beautiful? I wish I had a before picture. I'm sure Jason has one somewhere. If I find one, I will post the before, so you can really see the transformation on this piece.