Red Hot Lacquered Dresser Masterpiece

American of Martinsville 3 Drawer Chest Dresser

Sooooo, it’s taken me a bit to get this beauty finished, but boy was it fun and I totally love how it turned out.

American of Martinsville 3 Drawer Chest Dresser

I tried my hand at oil painting furniture and I’m seriously hooked. I read tips from a few of the awesome bloggers I follow at Little Green Notebook and Natty By Design and mid-project decided I needed to get a spray gun, they are so so good. I chose this little guy and I’m super excited and want to spray like everything now. (Seriously, I was asking Mark if I could spray like every little non colored thing in our house this weekend).

American of Martinsville 3 Drawer Chest Dresser

Anywho – it’s finished. This was a thrift store find, and it actually was really pretty to begin with, it just needed some umph. I fell in love with the fun detail on the drawers and when I got it home, I found it it was an old American of Martinsville piece – score! I used my critter spray gun with Rust-oleum’s Gloss Sunrise Red and a little bit of Mineral Spirits to thin it out. It leveled beautifully. Because I kind of liked the look of some brush marks on the drawers, I painted those by hand with a brush and I like how they turned out too.

Drawer Detail and Pull

American of Martinsville engraved in 3 drawer chest dresser

Leveled Rust-oleum red sunrise gloss

I think it would make a gorgeous entry chest, or a fun statement piece for any room and lucky for us, it’s for sale in my store! So tell me – where would you put this red hot chest of drawers?

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An Updated Fireplace

Fireplace filled with wood logs

So, Mark and I purchased our house this past July. We have made the most of 2013 updating as much as we can with our crazy (seriously crazy) DIY skills. We call it DIYR – Do It Yourself RIGHT. That’s just what we do folks, we crack ourselves up. We’ve got a 1920’s craftsmen home and we have a pretty cool fireplace that does not work anymore. It’s too cool to just rip it out, so with a little inspiration from Pinterest and some winter catalogs, we came up with this.

Fireplace Before

Fireplace filled with wood logs

Fireplace filled with wood logs

I’m totally in love. It really makes the room feel cozy. The whole project only took us an afternoon. Mark and I went to a local lumber yard and got a few logs for $8! Yup, that made me pretty happy…and then he cut them into 8-10″ little logs using his trusty chainsaw – such a manly man. I sprayed them with a bleach and water mixture and once they dried I brought them in.

Fireplace Log Project Step by Step

Then I just played with the arrangement (it was sort of a fun little puzzle) until I liked the way it looked and Voila! An updated fireplace! What do you think? What kinds of fun do you have going on in your fireplace? I love pics…

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Friendsgiving – My Fav

Friendsgiving Chalkboard Art

Every year, Mark and I have a whirlwind of a holiday season, like most people these days. With a large family, we have quite a few people to see and it gets a little busy in the Barrera household. That means we don’t get to see our friends for most of the holiday season, so we always have a big fun Friendsgiving bash before actual Thanksgiving to kick of the best time of year, catch up with family and friends, and of course eat great food. I love to decorate the house with pumpkins and fall decor. Here’s what I did for this year’s party, what a blast!

Pop. Fizz. Clink. Bar signage

A fall Friendsgiving mantel

Fall Mantle Upclose

Fall Friendsgiving Tablescape

Friendsgiving Chalkboard ArtDo you have a tradition like this? Give me some ideas for next year 😉 *all inspiration for this decor from Pinterest.

 

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Heeeellllo!

Hello everyone,

I’m EXCITED* to be writing this, like mega-excited. My husband is absolutely wonderful, and he has helped figure out a way for me to be a stay at home mommy and pursue my passions and I couldn’t be happier sharing that with you all. I’ve ALWAYS loved antiques, garage sales, design, little ones and DIY.

I love nothing more than making an old piece of furniture new again and the  sense of pride when your new favorite piece was created by you! It’s so satisfying. I’ve been going to garage sales since I was a little one with my Grandmother and Mom. I even learned how to drive doing it, because they would have me drive them allllll around the town. I’ve got a knack for finding the good stuff and I’ve never stopped. I also love thrift stores and craigslist, so I try to find rare finds there as well.

Refinishing and up-cycling is my creative outlet. I’ve always liked to paint art, but sometimes I get a little bit intimidated by the process, with furniture, I just have a blast. I love the character, beauty and limitlessness of Design. Furniture and Design go hand in hand to me.

Here’s my support group, my hubs – Mark & our tiny human, Harper and of course our spunky dog – Luna. I’m a lucky girl!

The Barrera Family

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