The little things

Slowly but surely the fiance and I are turning our rented townhouse into a home. And even though there's still a lot to do, we took care of a few, mostly small, projects.

After revamping the fiance's nightstand, adding doors to our bookcases, bringing in rugs to the office, adorning the coffee table with my DIY tray and hanging curtains in the master bedroom, I'm convinced design really is in the details. Changing color, adding a graphic pattern and hiding clutter are small and cheap ways to take a room to the next level.

Nightstand: Nothing a little wood filler and new paint color couldn't fix.

Bookcases: Adding doors provides an organized look, taking away from the clutter of the DVDs and CDs and shifting the focus to the upper shelves.

Office: A little graphic goodness goes a long way.

Coffee table: A pop of color is just what the white surface needed.

Bedroom curtains: Finishing touch frames the pretty window.

Progress and some life lessons and hideous hues along the way

This weekend was pretty productive. The fiance's nightstand makeover is coming along nicely. I had to sand off all of the dark stain he put on it after acquiring it from an old neighbor. In the process of stripping it down to the original wood, I found a surprise. And it wasn't the kind you eagerly anticipate on your birthday or Christmas.

The neighbor had stained it a hideous salmon color. Ugh. I asked Bruce why anyone would choose that shiny shade of nastiness for a great vintage piece? To which he replied, "Well, it was the 1950s." And my response: "There's no excuse for ugly." With the salmon disaster behind me, I'm excited to paint the nightstand white to show off its fabulous shape, which the dark stain was hiding.

Even though I have a clear vision for a piece of furniture when I begin, I seem to underestimate how involved the projects turn out to be. Maybe it's because I've only done three including the nightstand? Maybe it's the perfectionist in me? Each piece seems easier than the last when I begin the revamping process, but turns out to be more time consuming. Despite that, these projects are giving us "new" furniture that isn't mismatched and helping me become more handy and patient. I really had no expectations other than pretty furniture when I began these makeovers. But my confidence in properly navigating around a garage is growing. If you need something wood puttied, sanded, primed or painted, I'm your girl. And I definitely couldn't say that three months ago.