A Cabinet Makeover

Last week a family member asked me to find a cabinet and paint it black (It was to be for her office to store boxes). It needed to be around 3x5 feet.

I found quite a few cabinets on KSL that fit the bill except they were all over priced. After browsing in some different categories I spotted the perfect cabinet! It was $20 dollars. My husband went and picked it up and when he got there he discovered that it was solid wood, SCORE! 

I went to the store and got my paint mixed... After sending my very helpful toddler off with grandma so I could paint uninterrupted (for 4 hours) I stood back, looked at the cabinet and realized that the paint was GRAY. When I got the paint mixed I mentioned that it looked rather gray and the associate told me that it would darken once it dried. I waited and waited and still, GRAY! GRRR! I went back and had them re-mix my paint- which ended up just being another gallon and brand of paint... and RE-painted the entire cabinet. 

Here it is before:

It was the top to an entertainment center in it's first life but over time I guess they lost the bottom to it. So we just needed to buy a back for it and put in a shelf.

 

It was a little banged up- it looked like they tried to use a black furniture marker on brown wood... hmm...

This is what it looked like after I painted it gray...

It's not black is it? I knew I wasn't color blind.

And then... It was black!

 I distressed it and went over it with a wipe on poly.

 Put in a shelf and a solid back.

I think it will be perfect for an office. 

I'm linking up to:

The New Desk Reveal!

Alright ladies (and gents), here is my latest project! Let me just tell you... Apparently this desk's builder had some slight measuring inaccuracies. The drawers were all cock eye when we tried to put them back on (they were on crooked when we got it but I thought it would be an easy fix... NOT SO!). After two nights of working till 1AM my husband ran out of idea's on how to fix the issue. After mulling it over in my head for a bit it came to me! Hot glue!! :) 

Let me just say that hot glue is my NEW BEST FRIEND! The drawers needed to be put in place temporarily then screwed in and hot glue was just the trick to make it work! Here I am in the process of gluing on the drawer faces:

 And here we are all finished! :)

I used a poly/stain from Minwax for the top of the desk. I love the color!

After painting and distressing it I lightly glazed it black

 And here we are before:

 

And after:

I'm Linking Up to:

A NEW desk.

Alright, I'm not going to lie. My furniture changes like the sheets on my bed. (That's a LOT!) :) I know, I JUST barely refinished a neat little vanity that I was using for my desk... You can see it here.

The problem? It was TINY- I ordered a printer and there was NO way to fit it on the vanity with my desktop. 

The solution? KSL once again. I searched for the PERFECT desk and found it in 2.5 days. This desk was already a great price so I didn't haggle like I normally do. I thought it was well worth the money. It was quite a drive to get it but my sweet husband was happy to do it. 

Custom made solid wood desk with wood tracks. For the low price of $35 dollars.

Do you see the potential in this desk? I sure did!

Here is what my previous workspace ended up looking like:

I don't handle clutter well.

I will show you a sneak peek of the desk, it still needs hardware and a couple coats of poly- I will post the afters tomorrow.

I can already tell you this will be a much better workspace for my cake business and blogging! :) Stay tuned for tomorrows post!

Thank YOU!

Dear bloggers and blog followers,

Today, I am dedicating a post entirely to YOU! I just looked at my followers and there are now 42 of you! When I started this blog just over 3 months ago, I remember being so giddy when the first 3 people I've never met started following my little humble blog!

The whole purpose of this blog was to spare my poor friends on Facebook from having to see all of the pictures I would post weekly with all of my little home improvement projects. I think this blog has honestly made me a better person, I set goals for myself and I feel that I get more accomplished because of the inspiring posts I read from all of you!

Thank you so much for making me a better person. Thank you for following me! I've really enjoyed getting to know you and to see your blogs- I will try to keep up more with all of you. 

I recently quit my job so I can focus on being a mommy and working from my home doing what I absolutely LOVE- decorating cakes! I give full credit to all of you for giving me the courage to follow my dreams, since I first discovered my passion for cake decorating I felt that it was out of reach for me or not a very realistic career. How small minded! I have since discovered that I can do whatever I want to do if I put my mind to it! So last week I quit my job to take this leap of faith.

If you haven't already gone to my other blog please head over there and tell me what you think about it. And, If you know of anyone living in the Salt Lake City area or Utah County please send them my info. I would really appreciate it!
Carisa's Cakes

Follow me on Facebook too!

I look forward to a new year with all of you!

Thank you!!!

Sincerely, 

Carisa @ Paintmeshabby

{The "Things" That Make Me Happy}

Deals. I LOVE getting good deals. It's almost like a high. I've never been "High", but I would imagine it feels similar to the feeling I get from buying something for a fraction of the original price. 

Example:

 How much would you expect to pay for something like this?

 

If you guessed $49.99 you would be right!

 

I picked up this little beauty at Target for less than $8.00. It was marked down on clearance because it was an "Online Item Only".

When I brought it home my husband looked at me and said "Don't you already have one of those?" My poor husband just doesn't get it... You CAN'T just walk away from a deal like that! You'd be stupid if you did! (or you'd have to be  a person with extraordinary self control. I do not possess this quality.)

 I think it will go here- If there isn't anything edible in it- I will put things in it that match with the seasons. Yes, that's the plan. So what do you think? =)

Spray Painted Ceramic Dishes

Quite a while ago I wrote a post on Shelves for the Kitchen and I showed you some dishes I bought at D.I. for a STEAL I "Think" I paid $5.00 for the set. The only problem was that they were super U.G.L.Y. They needed an update, the answer? Spray paint! :) 

So here they are in all of their 70's glory:

 I got a little hasty with the spray painting so I don't have a before picture of all of them in their original form. I'm sure you can understand ;)

After a few coats of RustOleum glossy white they were perfect!

  

After:

Publishers Note: These are purely for decoration. I do NOT intend on using them for any food uses. Last I checked spray paint is still toxic to consume. ;)

I'm linking up to: Domestically Speakings Power of Paint Party

Organizing the Pantry

One of my MANY New Years resolutions for this year is to get my house in order. My biggest goal is to get our garage cleaned, organized and in order! But, it's too cold to work on the garage right now so when I saw Domestically Speakings challenge to organize your house I knew I had to participate! 

I decided to start in the kitchen since I spend LOTS of time there. I credit the holidays for my pantry's "spiralling out of a muck!" (watch The Office much?)  SOOO... as embarrassed as I am to show you the BEFORE pictures I'm going to do it. Proof that there is still hope for disorderly pantry's everywhere! :)

You wouldn't know I was a "Clean Freak" would you?

Do you SEE all of this JUNK FOOD??? I also credit THAT for my holiday weight gain "spiralling out of a muck" ;)

 

After about oh, 5-6 hours of pulling EVERYTHING off each shelf, I put it all back (In a MUCH more orderly manner of course!) I did throw out a lot of "Junk" too.

AFTER:

As if I'm not embarrassed enough about my BEFORE picture here it is again:

And AFTER:

Now, GO organize something! :)