nightstand redo

This past Friday was a much needed vacation day. There was some sweet time spent with the husband, and I even had a couple hours to tackle our nightstands. We had originally painted them yellow, but ever since the move, and the purchase of this heart-stopping rug, the yellow just wasn't working for me.

After a quick survey, between Blake and my mom, we settled on this brown-ish gray color. The color block on the left. Truly, I wanted to go the middle navy-gray color, but I got out-voted.

So we moved them outside, and began the painting process. With only 2 coats and drying time in between, it was a pretty easy and painless fix. I opted Semi-gloss for a subtle shine and it tends to hide scratches and such.

oh hey there new pillows, still lookin' good.

Let's move back inside for a reveal. Tah-dah!!

(above is Blake's side. below is mine.)

This color is the perfect blend of gray and brown. The brown works well with our wood bed, and, let's be honest - gray goes with anything. I love our mint green lamps SO much more now as they no longer sit on top of yellow.

And, don't the knobs look fresher too??

Blake BEGGED that I leave his cubby hole yellow. Maybe I was trusting his vision, or maybe it was a tad bit of laziness, but in the end, it stayed yellow. Blake likes to have little surprises on his side of the room.

It's kind of a tight squeeze to get into this room for pictures, but here's my best attempt. Hopefully you can get the idea.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I love them. Blake loves them. Kota is indifferent, but you can't ask too much from her regarding interior design things. The night stands get complimented by Blake every time he walks into the room. The new color really does give the entire room a whole new feel. YAY!

outdoor pillows

spoiler: I put the finished product right here at the top of this post.

Guys, I sewed. On a sewing machine. Pressed the peddle, moved the fabric, and actually sewed something! I have been eyeing this fabric from JoAnns for a while, and finally, with coupon in hand, brought it home. I thought about using my trusty method of iron-on hem tape, but then decided, why the heck not, I'll try to do this all professional-like.

(I only brought my iPhone, so the pictures are in Hipstamatic, making the colors look pretty dark, hopefully you can see the goodness that we call navy in the photos at the bottom)

So we started by laying the BEAUTIFUL navy and white trellis printed fabric out to cut. We decided on making the back an envelope-type enclosure for an easy pillow insert and removal. I had no idea how this was going to pan out, enter my great friend Hope.

(she also made us wear sewing hats, please notice beanie + tank top = hello Dallas in February)

She owns this, and a ton of knowledge regarding all things, especially sewing.

Here's some pinning... that part was really fun to me, don't know why.

She let me use her beautiful red thread to make this gorgeous fabric come to life!

Look at that first line!!!

Then we flipped it around - or inside out - to make the side stitches.

Look at that, look at that! This is when the giggles started, can you see? It's starting to look like a real pillow case!

move forward one day, and...

Here they are in real life. Please excuse the standing shutters, it's starting to look pretty "canton-y" out there, maybe when summer rolls around I can get crafty and figure out what I really want to do with those. I digress, back to the pillows.

here's a prettier depiction of the navy.OK, whoa, stop you pillows, I'm beginning to blush at just how awesome you turned out!

A great big THANK YOU to all of those involved in this pillow odyssey, Mimi Johnson for the initial direction, Marty Johnson for going shopping with me to pick these out, Hope for teaching me everything you know, and Blake for always being optimistic about all my creations. And, Dakota, just because I love you dearly.