Bookcase Do-Over

Guess what!  I have something to share with you!  And it's not sad.  :)

Firstly though... thank you to all of you who read my post about my sweet angel boys.  It means a lot to a mom who has lost a child to know that they are not forgotten.  So, just you reading my story about them comforts me.  An awesome friend is working on a picture of them for me and I can't wait to share it on here when it's ready!

But back to my happy -- not sad -- reason for hopping on here tonight!  I transformed a bookshelf.  I'm a transformer, if you will!  I've had this bookshelf since I got married (that was over 9 years ago) and my mom had it for heaven only knows how long before that.  This book shelf had seen far, far, FAR better days.  It started falling apart probably 20 years ago so she nailed a stick (basically) to the back of it to try and sturdy it up.  I'm sure it helped, but it was still a sad little bookshelf.  In fact, once I was talking to my mom about what furniture I had, trying to figure out what should go where in my house, and she laughed when I brought up the bookshelf and said "I can't believe you are counting that as an actual piece of furniture!"  But I'm so cheap, er, I mean frugal and I just couldn't throw it out!  So, I worked a little magic and now she's sturdy as Rocky Balboa!  Here's some before pics:

Check out what was holding up the shelves!  See that screw?  Also, one shelf didn't have all 4 corners supported so I had to have a little bucket on the shelf below to hold it up.  Super classy.

And here's my mom's fabulous 20-year-old work on the back.  This baby swayed with the wind she was so unsteady!

The bookcase makeover was really 2-part:  make it sturdier and make it cuter.

Part 1:  Sturdier
I took off that thin back board and threw it in the trasher!  Then I went to Lowe's and bought some slats for a wood fence.  I think they were about $1.15 each.  I wanted variety so some were 6" wide and some were 4".  Then we cut them to be the height of the bookcase and used a nail gun to hook them to the bookcase.  So easy!  Then I also got new little shelf holder things.  I don't even know what they're called but they're really inexpensive (a couple dollars is all) and now the shelves actually sit in place.  Imagine that!

Part 2:  Cuter
Before we hooked the fence posts to the bookcase, we sanded the corners of the boards and I stained them with a medium walnut stain.  Then I painted everything else a fun coral color.  Again, super easy!

And here's the after:

Now this is one of my favorite pieces of furniture in my bedroom.  Our comforter is white so this pop of color is just what our room needed!  I think with all my supplies the renovation probably cost about $25.

Oh and I have to show the fun vase I found at Hobby Lobby!  It matches our sheets/pillows perfectly  with the seaside blue color that I've got goin' on in here and it looks so cute next to my jewelry box!

Kitchen Chair Makeover

One day my fabulous husband came home with a brand new black, counter height kitchen table.  Yay!  Surprise!  He explained to me that the table was really only half of my gift.  You see, he knows how much I love the thrill of the hunt so for the remainder of my surprise gift, I would get to shop for chairs to go with it.  I don't think either of us truly understood just how intense the search would get BUT ultimately I ended up with a table and chairs that I loved at a killer deal (which I love even more) and he ended up with a counter height table (which he loves) so everyone wins.  Hooray!

As I mentioned, the search for chairs was quite grueling.  I visited store after store, website after website, and came up with nothing!  I found some chairs I liked but nothing I loved.  Most of the ones that grabbed my attention came with a hefty price tag and I knew I could get a deal if I was just patient!  My mom has always said "Patience is a virtue" (I know, I know, she didn't make that one up but I like to think she did).  But I really wanted padded seats.  For one, I like the idea of giving our tushies a little comfort but mostly I just had a vision that involved cute fabric.  I love how it softens things up!

Well, one day my mom called me and had found a listing for a whole bunch of chairs at 10 bucks a pop.  I called on it right away and she put 8 aside for me.  Tristan (aka Husband) and I came to the conclusion pretty quickly that they came from a Mexican restaurant (I think it was the salsa that was crusted on them that tipped us off).  My kids love to tell people that detail!  

I knew they'd need a little TLC but I loved their cafe style and was willing to put a little time and effort into them to get exactly what I wanted.  PLUS $10 each was a STEAL!

SO... here's the before.  I know you love the forest green pleather.

And voila!  The after!  Whattaya think?!

Here they are around my table.  I should have thrown a cute flower arrangement on the table for the sake of the picture.  My bad.  Usually our "grateful board" sits at the center of our table.  More on that on another day.