Navy Blue or How Pinterest Works

I promised myself the next time I decided to blog it would be recipes--but alas it is not.  I have been super busy over the summer trying to decide what to do with my career and how to organize/beautify/simplify my house and life. I have decided to begin my educational journey once again. That first degree in psychology (cue the laughter) didn't work out too well. It got me a job in insurance and from there I lost my job in insurance when the business closed due to the owners retirement and gained (what I woefully thought) was a much better job in insurance. Boy, did I think wrong. It was a horrible job for a company that uses 20 year old software and have filed for bankruptcy at least twice. I quit. I am going back to school for Health Information Management. Now on to the house! I have been slowly trying to decorate this house and it is by far a haughty task to undertake. I have a fear (the same fear that I had about my wedding) that it will look a Tim Burton movie threw up on my house.

Fun with Rustoleum

I got this idea from Pinterest (my new fave obsession). Seemed simple enough and I love the look of oil rubbed bronze. I didn't hate the look of our old fixtures and chrome is pretty much a sure thing as far as trends go.

My taping off skills could use a little work

Green Meadow

I finally finished the dresser. About a week ago. My mom has been harassing me to get my old furniture out of her house for some time now. We really don't want to take it all but I decided to get the dresser a few weeks back since we needed a sizable foyer piece. I've been obsessing about chalk paint ever since making a trip to Rug and Home and discovering the lovely (albeit $3,000) hutches that had that old world distressed look. Some research later and I realized what could be achieved through the wonders of Annie Sloan Chalk paint. My French Provincial dresser seemed like the perfect candidate for the job! I used Annie Sloan in Florence. The paint is super easy to use because there is no need to prime or sand. I used cheap (natural boar bristle) brushes not the $40 Annie Sloan brushes. I also used lint free towels to apply and remove the clear and dark wax. No wax brushes. I thought about painting the hardware (a different color of course) but decided I like the finish of the original hardware. The paint runs about $30 a quart about $35 for each container of wax. I love our new up cycled  foyer piece. It just needs a lamp and a few picture frames.

Before

During

Applying dark wax. Looks scary I know.

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