Hiya friends.  I was just looking back through the archives doing a little blog housekeeping.  In looking back to February to the beginning of this little online adventure of mine, it seems I’ve been a teensy bit busy.  In hindsight, all I can say is I should have bought stock in some home improvement and fabric stores, cause I sure spent a few cents throughout the year sprucing up some stuff. 

A few folks have been asking for a roundup, and perhaps a few of you who are new around here may have missed some of these crazy schemes eager projects. 

So here’s a look back at thirty of my Before and Afters from this past year.  These were all completed by yours truly and include a range of projects, from the smaller afternoon paint transformations to some totally overhauled spaces.  They’re in no special order of importance. 

For the full articles, just click on the titles . . 

. . . and away we go !

# 30 – Garage Sale Benches

This pair of mismatched benches were forced to coordinate with some gel stain, and then recovered with some bright fabric and pom pom trim to create tea party perches in my daughter’s room. 

#29 – Balcony Upgrades in One Afternoon

Mr. CG’s office mates had a plain balcony until I upgraded it in an afternoon as a birthday present. 

Before:

After: 

This use of river rocks was featured by Apartment Therapy as a great way to mulch plants. 

For the full tour of the entire balcony space, click here.   

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I’ve never had a problem with brown.  I love brown, especially chocolate brown.  I think it looks amazing when paired with crisp white or warm cream and a really hot color.  But I was totally over brown in my home office.  Everything in there was brown, the walls, the furniture, the curtains.  Blah blah blah brown. 

The home office is the first door just off the entry way, and was always closed whenever visitors came over.  Quite frankly it was more of a storage space and less of an office for many years.  The first thing I ever did when I heard the doorbell was close the office door.  

When I spied some bookcases on clearance for $20 dollars each at a local outlet that was closing its doors, something clicked in my brain.  “I spy with my little eye a home office remodel.” 

It took me five months to finally get around to completing the entire space since I’ve been busy with other things (ahem, life) but it got a complete overhaul from floor to ceiling and now I can say it is finally finished.   

Here the After:

Here’s the Before – these are the ‘uncluttered’ pics:

Here’s the story. 

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Months ago, I chanced upon some bookcases at the local Villeroy and Boch that was closing its doors.  When I found out the outlet store was selling their displays for $20 dollars each, I was inspired to remodel my blah blah brown home office. 

Perhaps you recall the twin glass shelf towers that I transformed way back in August that sit on the other side of the space.  Those were easy peasy.  The accompanying bookcases ?  Not so much.  I didn’t realize at the time I brought them home how much extra work it would take to get them into ship shape.  It took me three months to face facts – these required more than just a quick coat of paint.  They had some problems that required extra attention to detail. 

Here’s a peek at one of the two bookcases we just finished that give me that built in look, an extra work table, and plenty of storage.  They were the final hurdle to completing the home office remodel. 

In the store before, and now installed in my office.

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I heart strippers. 

No not those kind.  I knew your mind would go there. 

No, I like the kind of strippers that take layers of paint off an old piece of furniture.

Last week, I was working on a dresser and nightstand combo for my brother’s bachelor pad.  I found this set at the local thrift for $25 dollars for the pair.  They’re solid wood !  However, the chipped pistachio green paint job was not the shade we were going for. 

So with the help of a chemical stripper, I took them from this:

To this:

I picked these pieces because of their modern streamlined design and the pewter hardware.  Also because they were inexpensive and the perfect size for his small bedroom space.  He rents in San Francisco where large bedrooms are very rare.  I thought it a good idea to strip the paint off of the pieces to get right to the wood so we could start over with primer and paint.  A chemical stripper was the fastest answer. 

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