Helen Nichole Designs

June 15, 2012

Red Dresser - Before and After

Okay, this was almost an "after" only blog post. Apparently, our computer got a little bug and ALL of my pictures are gone and I think I am in shock because I'm staying pretty calm. I'm going to my happy place.

The minute I saw this dresser I knew I wanted it! I love the legs and the casters.

There was some veneer missing so I filled it with wood filler. It looked great, until I painted and I could see every flaw. The bottom drawer had ripples in it, which I couldn't see until I painted it. In the end, I had to remove the veneer which I will do a how-to post on soon.

The color changes depending on the light.

The paint color is called Rose Dust, but I think it has hues of coral, and dark red. (It was actually an "opps" paint so this color may not true to the color swatch).

Gorgeous!!

The top was in good condition so I kept it natural and I lightly distressed the corners of the dresser and added two coats of wax. I also kept the original pulls.

I love this dresser! Do you agree?

Linking up to:

Miss Mustard Seed

Savvy Southern Style

Primp

May 29, 2012

Guest Bathroom Updated

Hello friends! Do you remember the board and batten we added to our guest bathroom a few weeks ago?
I finally got around to painting it this past weekend and it's making me wish we would have transformed our master bathroom instead. I'm having a little bit of bathroom envy.

Overall, the guest bathroom is complete except for painting the vainty and framing out the mirror. If I had my way I would replace the vanity but I don't want to spend the money because I'm a big ol' cheapskate!

Isn't it pretty and calming?

Oh, I forgot to mention, not only is this the guest bathroom but it also belongs to my three year old daughter. What a lucky little girl!

Linking up to:

May 11, 2012

Mini-Makeover with DIY Board & Batten

One of my favorite blogs is Better After. I. LOVE. THAT. BLOG!!! While doing my weekly check-in, I came across a bathroom re-do featured from Alison at Thrifty and Chic. She redid her guest bath for $60 bucks and I wanted to get on that ASAP!

Source: Thrifty and Chic

With help from my hubby this is our mini makeover

We used two 1x4's, which made the shelving and under ledge and nine 1x2's which made the vertical parts. They were all 8 feet long but we made the shelves a little over 5 feet.

Prep work included: cutting, sanding, nailing, screwing, leveling....(okay, my husband did all of this but it looked super easy)! I'm not doing a complete tutorial but if you want a step-by-step click on the link for Thrifty and Chic which will walk you through the whole thing.

After all of the wood is up make sure to caulk all of the gaps, sand and then paint. I painted two coats of Swiss Coffee by Behr (love that paint) and then decorated.

I had everything on hand except for the frames, wood supplies and towels.

Here is a rundown of where everything came from:

Vases are from Hobby Lobby

Dictionary prints are from Etsy (click here for the shop)

Flowers are from my garden

Towels are from Marshall's

Frames are from Michael's

Wood and Caulk are from your local hardware store

Here's the best part....the wood only cost $15!!! Moral of this story: if you have most of your supplies on hand you can do this SUPER CHEAP!

We are wanting to paint over the brown (oh, I loathe brown) but I'm putting that off until next weekend. So far, I love the look of the board and batten and I adore my framed prints. They are printed on old dictionary pages and each one is individual.

What do you guys think of the board and batten look?

March 04, 2012

TV Stand Reveal

My client Shelby wanted to turn a dresser into a TV stand. I did a post a few weeks back that showed the inspiration for what she wanted. If you missed that post you can click here.

I usually show the before picture first but I'm gonna change things up with this post.
Here is the after.....

This looks SO splotchy...but it's just the below grade photos. Note to Self: Stop Rushing!!!

Moving on....

The dresser was part MDF and part wood. Well.... the drawer fronts and bottom trim were real wood. I usually work with solid wood pieces so I was a little out of my element but in the end it all came together.

The first challenge was the top which was bubbling, peeling and had a large area covered with sticky stuff. Ewww. Plus the overall look of the dresser was not working! Here's a visual of the overall ugliness!

I sanded the top down in hopes to get a smooth(er) surface. I primed the whole piece and then painted two coats of Swiss Coffee by Bher but even after all of that the reddish brown was bleeding through the top. This is where my second challenge came into play. I sanded...AGAIN... and then decided to paint with homemade chalk paint. (My homemade chalk paint recipe is 1 cup latex paint to 1/4 cup baking soda but now I just pour out some paint onto a paper plate and sprinkle in some baking soda and mix until its a medium thick consistency. After the second time making a batch I quit measuring)! The chalk paint did the trick and stopped the bleeding through!!

I took out the two middle drawers and cut birch plywood to make cubbies. Well, my husband cut the wood but I made sure to tell him how to do it!

If it wasn't for my husband I would have forgotten to add holes for the electronic cords. And that's why I call him Dan the Man....seriously, that's his name in my phone!

I distressed the whole thing, spray painted the brass pulls black (which were $1 a piece at Restore) and then added a coat of wax. I think it turned out great for not being all wood. Shelby and her husband picked up their new TV stand today and they loved it. Shelby was a great client to work with and made my job super easy!