Before and (Almost) After

by Susan McBride aka Mrs. Fix-It

By special request, I’m back to (almost) finish up my home improvement tales. The to-do list has gotten rather skimpy, which makes me quite proud; although I still have a little ways to go on my re-vamping of the guest room project. Still I thought I’d share some “before” and “after” pics to show you what’s been done. Okay, first, an old pic of the minty green room:


The Victorian chair is to the right-hand side (I know, you can barely see it!). It’s covered in a really pretty leaf and lily pattern that just didn’t work with the new color scheme. The ottoman’s in front of the window since the cats used it as a perch to look outside. It doesn’t match the chair except that it’s green. I bought it for about $10 at a really dusty “antiques” shop near where my grandmother lived. You can also see the white-washed dresser bought for about $60 at an antiques mall, when I just needed something pronto to fill the room and to store away old manuscripts. Also, the window has no curtains, just a mint-green sheer I got for about $5 at Linens-n-Things and draped around a little metal rod.

Now for the re-done chair, for which I used Waverly fabric that was on sale for $15 a yard (and I needed three to cover it and the ottoman). Happily, since the curtain panels are Waverly, the dye lot in the chair fabric and the curtains work together great! Note the matching white paint on the ottoman’s feet. I tell ya, that epoxy spray paint for appliances has the perfect sheen! What a lucky mistake using that turned out to be.

Not bad, eh? You can kind of see the toned-down color of the green paint on the walls behind it. Below, you can glimpse the curtains that hang from the re-purposed wooden curtain rod I spray-painted. And there’s the rehabbed dresser newly dark-green and now with feet! I think I mentioned before that the “feet” were made from a pair of drapery finials I got at Lowes for under $4. Ed cut the pointy tips off, which worked beautifully!


The dresser isn’t quite finished yet. It has a spot on the back where you can tell some type of molding used to sit. I remembered my mom had a piece of molding to put over a doorway and had never used. So she donated it to my cause, and here’s what it looks like, although it needs to be cut down (it’s 62″ long!) and painted. But when it’s done and attached to back of the dresser, it’s going to be gorgeous!

It’s amazing what you can do with a little elbow-grease, paint, and fabric…and a creative mind! I can’t wait to get the room completed. Another weekend of work, and I think it’ll finally be done! Weeeee!

P.S. The dresser is finished! Here’s the proof:
7 replies
  1. The Stiletto Gang
    The Stiletto Gang says:

    Thanks for giving us the "rest" of the remodeling story! Your creation of the dresser "feet" was brillant! How did you ever think of that???

    Rhonda
    aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David

  2. Susan McBride
    Susan McBride says:

    Thanks, Rhonda! I thought of things that might be the right shape (or almost the right shape), and I walked down the aisle at Lowes with the molding, saw the finials, and went, "Eureka!" It worked out great! Forgot to mention I replaced the drawer pulls on the dresser, too. The old ones were not original to the piece and were, like, ugly flowers. So I found some antiqued looking pulls for about $2 a piece at Lowes, and I love them!

  3. Dea, Kia, Jake
    Dea, Kia, Jake says:

    Susan: You have inspired me! I have an antique dresser from my grandparents' house that needs some tlc…I'm going to take a picture, send it to you offline and get your input. You are quite the home maven! New career? Maggie

  4. Susan McBride
    Susan McBride says:

    I carry my mom's (and my grandfather's) DNA for junking. I used to love refinishing old furniture. For awhile after I moved to St. Louis, Mom and I had a booth at an antiques mall. That was so much fun! But it took up A LOT of time, and it was just a sideline for us both so we gave it up. Still, if there's a flea market or garage sale nearby, we're there! And fortunately for me, Ed likes junking, too. Although he's more interested in old tools and cameras than furniture or knick-knacks. I've still got to either stain or paint our china cabinet in the kitchen which is stripped but not refinished. It looks like it's made of five different kinds of wood! I almost hate to do anything to it!

  5. Anonymous
    Anonymous says:

    Ohhh, I love what you did with the chair! It's so pretty…oh, and tell Ed I'll be moving in this summer. 😉 buah ha ha.

  6. Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith
    Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith says:

    Loved hearing about all this remodeling. Long ago I loved to do things like this–no energy for it anymore. Book stuff takes all that I have.

    Marilyn

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