A kitchen dresser makeover

 

My recent blog hiatus cooincided with an unintentional break from many of my usual hobbies, and while I like change, and shiny new things, I'm realising that some of those pasttimes of old are part of me and are good for my wellbeing. One thing I needed was a return to my little projects around the house. A furniture makeover to be precise. Enter eBay and a $50 pine kitchen dresser. On the surface, sanding and painting can be quite the chore, but when it comes down to it they usually provide a great sense of accomplishment with a good dose of excitement and anticipation as you wait to see the end result. 

For this project, I used Dulux Whisper White in gloss that we had leftover from painting other things around the house, like the mantle. I stupidly slapped a full brush of it on before realising it was the oil-based version of this paint that we'd abandoned some time ago as it is such a pain to use and clean up. Since I'd already started and dirtied the brush I kept going with it, cursing myself from time to time.

If we renovate our kitchen one day, the things I'd most like to see changed are the floor tiles and the lack of a decent pantry. The most annoying thing is that there is room for extra cupboards near the fridge but there is nothing on that wall at all. I'd like extra cabinets there with a fridge cavity in the same style we choose for the rest of the kitchen. In the meantime, I decided a kitchen dresser would make better use of this space and would add more visual interest than the flat pack cupboard we'd used as a panty in our previous house (pictured below). It was just one of those pieces that we plonked there on moving day and never moved. I was keen not to hide the lovely cook books I recently received for my 30th birthday in it anymore and a kitchen dresser allows display room as well as hidden storage.

Below is the view from the French doors leading to our courtyard (older shots of this space can be seen in this older post). The dresser better connects the kitchen and dining spaces and I like that it is the same height as the glass cabinet in the corner. This photo also shows a glimpse of the fabric I used to reupholster the dining chairs before Christmas (I have other photos of this project to post one of these days).

For the knobs, I chose different sizes and styles for the drawers and the doors, with the common features being the flowery shape and the dark blue. The smaller knobs on the drawers are white with a blue stripe while the door knobs are shiny, solid blue. Both are from Provincial Home Living and tie in with the ones used on our bathroom vanity, guest room bedside table, hallstand and a lamp table.

So that's my home project that I hope will help get me back into other fun, creative projects at home and back to blogging. I've really missed it but I guess I've just been coming home from work tired and drained. It seems easy and relaxing to come home from work and flop in front of a downloaded TV series after cooking dinner. Then it gets addictive! We are off to visit New York City next month so I have been inhaling the sights on Gossip Girl. Sad but true! After awhile though, I start feeling like I am wasting my life in front of the TV. I've also stopped going to the gym lately. At first that was because I was enjoying the beautiful bike I got at the end of last year but now it's too dark to ride when I get home from work so it's just weekends. On the positive side, I have picked up a new hobby - learning the piano with a weekly lesson and a short practice each day - and I recently read two books of fiction just for pleasure, something I haven't been doing enough. So it's not all bad, but I just feel like I need to find my way again and I wish it was easier to get back on the bandwagon. Life can easily become a daily grind but I want more and I choose more. So I'm digging in my heels and crawling back. It's not enough just to find the things that make my heart sing, I actually have to do those things to be happy. What do you think?

A desk for Charles and Whyte

I've been obsessing over long, white desks since we moved into our house two years ago and last weekend, I finally got my hands on one. So keen was I, that in one weekend I picked it up in a trailor from the other side of Melbourne then sanded it and gave it three coats of white paint. We now have everything required for a project like this at home so the only outlay was the payment of $192.50 to the friendly eBay seller. Yee haa. Let's just say we have way too many sanders and tins of paint these days.

You may remember that I did up the below desk only 18 months ago (details here), and as much as I like it and its spacious drawers, it has never been long enough for both the Mister and I to sit at comfortably. Not sure whether to sell it or keep it in on the other side of the study as a sewing table.

The criteria for a desk this time was very similar to last: drawers along the top rather than down the side, less than $500 (preferably much less!), sleek but not too modern so it would suit our older Victorian style home and, most importantly, white. Length was the only difference this time around and I'm happy to say the new one is 180cm long compared to 110cm of the old. I used Pinterest to keep all my office and desk inspiration pictures together. You can view my board on Pinterest here - I'm still lusting over some of those office spaces.

And yes, I bought the Ikea Ingolf chairs in anticipation before I found the desk! Better storage options have had to wait until the desk was found so we can find something that fits around it. For now, we have a mix of old Ikea cupboards we bought for storage in previous houses but I'm hoping for something more coordinated to create symmetry around the desk and perhaps some over desk storage or shelving.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself though. For now, I need to appreciate the most recent updates to this room. A little 'before and after' of the desk should help.

Nothing like a little project with your own two hands to make your heart sing!