Headboard before and after and a bedroom update

The moral of this story is going to be this- I am a procrastinator. 3 years ago my husband and I had a fight. Ok well, we have had a few fights since then, but that is beside the point. It was early December, finals were coming up, stresses were high and we had a fight. My husband is a dear, and he fights better than I do. What I mean by that is, I use my words as a weapon and say things I don't mean when I am mad. Or maybe some of the things I do mean, but they come out sounding like I am throwing a hatchet when really, if I took a moment to calm down and wait until I could say them a little nicer (or quieter) they wouldn't sound so bad. As for Shaun, he fights fair. He is a calm fighter, and when I really push him to his limits, he takes a moment to calm down and let things cool off instead of acting like... well, me. I love him for that and I am hoping to be better.

Anyway, that day in December when we were mad, he left for a little while. While he could have been off doing something for himself, studying, shopping for man toys, hunting or whatever the heck guys do when they are mad at their wives, he did something completely the opposite. He went to home depot, bought the materials and constructed a beautiful headboard. He was gone for quite a while, and by the time he came back you can bet I had calmed down, felt bad and was ready to mend things.

For Christmas that December, he surprised me with this beautiful headboard. He spent a lot of time making it perfect, filling all the imperfections with putty and making it as smooth as he could because he knew I would want to paint it.

To say I felt guilty is a big understatement. He knew I had wanted a headboard for a long time, and instead of buying one that we couldn't afford, he built one that we could. It is simple, beautiful and meaningful to me. He started it and I finished it. I love painting furniture and truth be told, this is the first "new" piece I have ever finished. I am really happy with how it turned out, it is so special.

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My very favorite paint to use when I give furniture a new face is, BEHR paint and primer in one. No one is paying me or persuading me to say it. I love it and I continue to use it over and over again. I love the coverage and how it holds up over time. Since I like to decorate in sort of a vintage farmhouse style, I always use  the color "Ivory Palace" in satin. It is the perfect combo of cream and white and if you decided to antique your piece with stain, the ivory palace takes it very well, leaving a pretty cream color underneath.

 

Pre paint:



 

 Layer 1:

 

 

Layer 2 and 3. After 3 layers it looked great. I let it dry and my husband was actually able to secure it to our bed just a few hours later. He built it 3 years ago and I was able to paint it in a few hours and have it on my bed. What the heck took so long!? I guess since it is so special to me, and I am used to fixing up old furniture with lots of imperfections, I have been a little nervous.

I love how it turned out.

 

  Our bedroom is very small but someday it will look gorgeous in a room with more space. Shaun will build a footboard to match when we have a little more room.  Did you see THIS POST  on my original bedroom reveal? I like to change things around a lot. I added the white textured bedspread and the two chevron pillows from Ross. What do you think?  

My little Mustard Desk

 

Last summer while the Mr and I were out running errands on a Saturday morning, we drove by a garage sale in town and I casually glanced out the window as we drove by. I love garage sales, but have found that I have to be careful or I end up with a TON of junk in the basement, just because it was a good deal. Even 50 cents or 3 bucks here and there adds up, so I am learning to be much more selective about my thrifty purchases.

 

So, as we drove by, I noticed a little antique desk amongst all the junk.

I squealed for my husband to turn around and let me have a closer look at it. As soon as I saw that all 4 drawers worked, that it was a true heavy duty solid wood antique desk, that it had amazing character, and adorable features, and was marked as a steal at only 10$... I HAD TO HAVE IT.

 

I quickly gave my hubby "the nod" (the no I cant live without it, come and load it before someone else gets it right now nod) and it was a done deal within 10 minutes.

 

Since I am a busy Mama, she has been waiting patiently in the basement for about 6 months. Every time I walk passed it I dream about how beautiful she will be with her little face lift.

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So about 2 weeks ago I couldn't sleep and I felt like I wanted to start a project. I knew just where to go!

Here is the before picture. (I do have all 4 drawers)

 

 

 Here is a picture with the first coat of paint and primer. I wanted to leave as much of the natural distressing as possible. I think it adds so much extra character and makes it an absolutely one of a kind piece.

 

 

 

 I think it is really special when you can see the dark stain of the natural distressing even after you have painted it a new color. The way to get this look is simple to have a very small amount of paint on the brush when you go over these areas, and to do it with a light hand.

 

Sometimes when I start a project like this, I feel like I want to get it done all at once because I don't know when I am going to have time to work on it again after the first coat of paint. If you don't be careful and let the paint have time to dry between layers, It will stay very tacky for a long time and you wont be happy. BE PATIENT. Trust me, I know how hard it is.

 

The next hardest thing is choosing a color. Truth be told, I hadn't decided on one yet for the desk, but I had a few cans of left over paint in the basement, and I thought I should use them before spending money on new. I knew the desk was going in a room upstairs with mustard curtains, so I settled on this yellow. The other cool thing about painting old furniture is, If you hate the color, paint over it. simple as that. The more paint it has, the more shows through during distressing, and the more antique it really looks. WIN WIN.

 

After 2 coats of the yellow, and being very very patient to let it dry, I took it upstairs to her new room. I want to heavily distress it, but I want to give it 2 weeks up sitting upstairs to get really really dry. I am doing this because if the paint is tacky at all when you try to distress, its just going to peel off and you will not get the look you want.

 

One more before...

 

And after... 

Isn't she a beauty? I love am obsessed with the original hardware, and those curvy legs!