Project: Fencing

When we were searching for a house, Mark was pretty sure he would like a fixer upper. He loves projects. We ended up moving to a house that was pretty much done in the realm of "fixing" but as I told him before we moved, I always have a project list for him. :)

Project #1 at the house is to fence in the back yard. Hazel is a pup ready to run and once she feels like she might get an ounce of freedom, it's off to the races for her. Our backyard is beautiful with lots of mature trees and landscaping, however, it has been neglected for a few years and has gotten pretty overgrown. Since we needed to establish a fence line in the back, we called in reinforcements and thankfully my dad brought his chainsaw and a really big trailer. He made quick work of helping us remove trees, limbs, bushes and anything else that was overgrown on the property line.

All cleared and ready to fence! I can't wait until Hazel and the girls can run around and play ball in the backyard without having to worry!

Furniture refinish

Since we didn’t have much else going on *end of school year, moving houses, leaving on vacation, enter sarcasm here* we decided to refinish our bedroom furniture. This furniture is out of the 80’s and though good quality, it was extremely dated with its huge brass pulls and dark wood. I have never really liked it, but bedroom furniture is crazy expensive. Since we were moving Mark said we should update it and buy new. He’s not much into shopping so his price points aren’t too realistic, so when I told him what that might cost we opted for $100 in paint and hardware to refinish the ones we had.

Before and after...it's amazing what some hardware can do. 

I bought a gripper paint as the tops of the dressers were shiny smooth and the laminate protector was not easily sanded. I used the orbital sander and stripped them down as much as I could and gave them a first coat of the gripper primer. It adhered like a dream. It was easy to use, offered pretty good coverage and dried quickly. We then coated them with Behr white paint that although offered “one coat coverage” we reapplied a good 4 times, sanding just a bit between each coat. We added a little hardware and *viola* we had a ‘new’ bedroom set with all the great quality of older furniture with a more updated and modern look. 

Dresser 2 before and after

Desk before and after.

We love how they turned out and we love how they look in our new bedroom in contrast to the dark grey wall. We did scrap the headboard for the bed as it didn't ever fit the bed well and no amount of paint was going to help that thing, but we purchased a new one that fits the rest of the furniture well. Pictures of the new house all put together coming soon. [Assuming we ever get this house put together]. ;)