let's get organized, organized

i started off the year with the resolution of being more organized.  it went pretty well.  i made a mail organizer and laundry sorter to jump start the resolution.  i then took february to october off.  i didn't want to get too carried away or anything.  so for november, i chose to wrap up this highly successful resolution by organizing my closet.

eek.  it was bad.  so bad.  so i marched my butt right to menards and bought a prepackaged closet kit for 4-8 foot closets.  mine measures 6.5 feet, so cody had to cut one of the pieces down.  it was pretty painless for me to install.  maybe because i just sat there and watched cody do most of it.  i did put the entire shelving piece in the middle together though.  i also took this opportunity to load up two full bags  of clothes to be donated.  felt so good, especially when i look at that picture up there and see clothes i haven't touched in years.

i have long hanging storage on the other side, which you cannot see because the closet doors are only like half the size of the closet.  good thing i don't wear dresses too often.  closet systems are a really easy solution for a lack of closets {which we have!}.  i doubled my storage space with a few andrew jacksons and a night in with the hubs.

side note:  i ran out of storage to upload photos onto my blog!  so forgive my lack of blogging, i am trying to figure out how to fix this little issue and in the meantime trying to work around it.

another side note:  yep, just noticed that bra in the messy closet.  let's just pretend we didn't see that, okay?  thanks!

going once, going twice...

here is another piece that will be on the harvest festival auction.  you can read more about that here.  

the table was in good shape.  it appears it has a drawer, but really the handles are just decorative.  i mean, are three handles really necessary for a fake drawer?  

the top was scratch free, which was awesome because that meant i was able to leave it as is.  i used the same chalk paint recipe as in this post, this time in linen white by behr.  i applied two coats, which really helps make the paint more durable.  each coat of paint was followed by a thorough sanding.    

i glazed the entire paint and applied a coat of wax to protect it.

i finished it off by adding one pull, which i found at menards.  this table would make a great entry table, or even a small writing desk or a couch table.  obviously the possibilities are endless...here's to hoping it sells!

linking up:

harvest festival auction items

next weekend is the annual harvest festival at central minnesota christian school.  i am pretty excited because two of my pieces will be up for sale on the auction.  all proceeds will go towards the school.  the furniture was donated, and i was given  the creative freedom to do whatever i preferred.  i have never actually made anything that i haven't kept or given to a family member, so this was a very fun change of pace.

the first item is an end table.  it was missing some of the hardware, which meant i wasn't able to reuse the pulls.

  the top was also pretty scratched, so i decided to paint the entire piece instead of the leaving the top. 

 the color i chose was willow leaf by glidden.  i started by deglossing the piece, only because it was very shiny and i was worried about the sticking power of the paint.  instead of priming and painting the piece, i chose to try making my own chalk paint using this recipe.  it simply calls for:

1 part baking soda

2 parts flat acrylic/latex paint

i used a jar of sample paint from home depot, which only comes in flat.  the paint stuck very well, but definitely needed two coats.  it feels very sandpapery when applied, but after sanding it down it was very smooth.  i didn't mind the extra step of sanding since i always sand my pieces anyway to give it a worn look.  after two coats, followed by a thorough sanding, i applied a thin coat of glaze and finished it with a coat of wax.

the pulls really gave me a run for my money.  

there was no way to remove the screws without dismantling the entire drawer.  not what i signed up for.  i tried finding handles that could incorporate the screws that were already there, but no such luck.  i ended up having to drill my own holes inside the drawers to remove the old screws.  i purchased new pulls from menards.

they were a little too brassy for my taste, so i used some metallic spray paint to tone them down a bit.  i didn't want them to be a solid color, so i used a brush to apply the paint.  

it ended up giving it a nice hand brushed effect and toned the handles down quite a bit.  

i love the shape of this piece,

and the color is a very nice olive color that can be incorporated into many different decorating styles.  

the size of this piece is larger than most end tables, so it could be used for anything.  be sure to come check it out on saturday, november 17 at 5 p.m. at the high school in prinsburg!  there are lots of items on the auction.  if you are interested, you can check them out here.  the next piece will be on the blog soon.

linking up: