Our newest project: The Veneer Mid Century Dresser

Part of the reason that it took me so long to post my 30 for 30 Challenge this week is because I finally found a mid-century dresser that I liked on the cheap and we made the drive to look at it and pick it up on Tuesday night.   I have been searching craigslist for over a year hoping for the right one.  This one actually happened!  We were pleasantly surprised when we showed up since the previous owners were younger than we expected (the home was in area that is very hit & miss and the owners are currently replacing the 40 year old linoleum that was in the photos).  The dresser has a veneer top and will need some work before it finds a permanent spot in the house, so I am looking into ways we can refinish it and I've decided to show my favorites here.

{via}

{via}

{via}

{via}

I hope to leave as much wood unpainted as possible, but I'll have to see how it goes when I tackle the project.  I'm excited!

The 30x30 Challenge (30 items to make 30 outfits)

I am a little behind fashion world, but thanks to my coworker’s wife, I’m a new fan of Kendi’s 30 x 30 Remix Challenge.  It’s perfect for my ongoing closet makeover goal:  simplify, budget, and clear the clutter.  Budget doesn’t mean boring, I can wear the same piece of clothing twice, and I don’t need to run to the store to every time I get in a fashion rut.

To kick off my closet makeover earlier this year, I purged and started documenting my outfits daily to help assess wardrobe needs, but I was missing out on the remix part of my challenge (and becoming a bit zzzz).   To take the my closet makeover further, I'm going to do Kendi's challenge, Kendi's way.

Kendi's 30 day Challenge Rules:
1.  Use 30 items in your closet (excluding accessories)
2.  Mix & Match chosen items for 30 outfits
3.  Don't shop for the 30 days


I spent the weekend narrowing it down to the 30 items I will be using.  Have I chosen well?  I hope so!  

Painting the Guest Bedroom

We finally picked a paint color after months of looking at paint chips and samples on the wall.  The 4 we decided to try samples for are:


Benjamin Moore HC-147:  Woodlawn Blue
Benjamin Moore 1563:  Quiet Moments
Benjamin Moore's HC-143: Wythe Blue
and Benjamin Moore HC-150:  Yarmouth Blue

I spent months agonizing over the color choices available in the blue pallet offered by Behr, Valspar, Glidden, Martha Stewart, and Benjamin Moore.  Benjamin Moore seemed to have the most muted/classic versions of blue so I finally decided to cough up the money for paint samples and made the husband vote on his favorites.


My husband immediately eliminated two of the choices and we were left with Woodlawn Blue and Quiet Moments.  I leaned toward Woodlawn Blue but the husband leaned toward Quiet Moments.  After two weeks of viewing the color swatches in different lights, I finally broke down and bought 1 gallon of the Quiet Moments (only one since we may change colors slightly on the second coat - does anyone else end up having to do this???).


The first coat of Quiet Moments seems to glow in certain lighting, so we will be doing 1-2 Shades darker for the second coat.  I think maybe next time we'll paint larger swatches (2'x2') prior to moving to the next step, maybe this will eliminate color changes after one coat on future projects.